Getting a new month sticker for the back license plate is free

QHi Honk: My June sticker for the back license plate is barely legible now. How does one get that replaced?

— Peter Tarkoff, Aliso Viejo

AHonk has some shockingly good news for you, Peter. It's free and somewhat easy to get that month sticker that pairs up with the annual registration sticker to tell patrolling cops if your vehicle is up to date.

You can brave going into a Department of Motor Vehicles office to get one, or you can call the DMV at 1-800-7770133.

If you go into an office, take your registration paper — the one you otherwise leave in the vehicle, said Chris Orrock, a DMV spokesman.

If you call, you can leave a call-back number so you don't have to wait, and the DMV phone system is set up to tell callers if it has too many people in front of you and can't help you at that time.

Or, if you are a member of the Automobile Club of Southern California, you get it at a branch. Same deal — no cost, just bring in your registration paper, spokeswoman Marie Montgomery Nordhues said.

QThe clue on a recent crossword puzzle was “tapping on the horn.” I quickly wrote in “honk.” But other words didn't mesh with it and I realized I had to change it to “toot.”

— Cathy Franklin, Long Beach

AYou were right the first time, Cathy — the crossword author got it wrong.

QHonk, what's up with the new yellow borders around all the stoplights that are being replaced on most major intersections?

A— Ron Bell, Huntington Beach

Eye-catching, eh?

If a traffic signal loses power at night, the border is meant to alert drivers that they are approaching an intersection and to be careful and treat the cross street like there is a stop sign. The yellow borders are reflective so they pick up headlights' beams.

Yes, at least some traffic signals have batteries but they, like Honk after a long day, could become drained.

Utility companies these days will cut off electricity at times when they determine their equipment has a greater chance than usual of igniting a wildfire. That can include traffic signals. So you will likely see these yellow borders more often in or near rural or wooded areas, stretches prone to absorb planned power outages.

HONKIN' FACT>> Caltrans is among the public agencies that have helped clear the roadways in the San Bernardino Mountains where snow recently hit residents hard. Plows push snow to the sides, of course. Another way is to cart it elsewhere. But where? “Because of environmental reasons here in California, we cannot dump snow into waterways or lakes,” Eric Dionne, a Caltrans spokesman, told Honk. “Crews (sometimes) utilized empty lots that we're given permission to use by businesses (and sometimes it is) trucked off in dump trucks and stored at one of our remote-site facilities.” Some agencies harmlessly dump it over the mountainside, too.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.